TN minorities’ mistrust makes BJP liability to allies: Nirmal Kumar

CHENNAI: After serving the BJP for 14 years in various capacities, CTR Nirmal Kumar quit the national party and joined the AIADMK protesting the “destructive and autocratic style” of functioning of state leader K Annamalai.

In an interview to DT Next, the former BJP IT wing president said the former IPS officer-turned-politician runs a parallel unit of the parent body with a team of handpicked persons without considering the welfare of the party and its cadre.

He said the saffron party was a liability to its ally in TN as consolidation of minorities vote against the national party was strong here. Instead of reaching out to the minorities and earning their trust, the state leader was unnecessarily involved in sensitive issues and has caused irreversible damage to the prospects of the party for the next 15 years.

Since your exit from the BJP and joining AIADMK, several party leaders and cadre followed suit. This gives an impression that you are pulling the string. Is it so?

I have openly stated the reasons for quitting the party after serving it in different capacities under four state leaders since 2009. The last two years were very tough to function under a person like Annamalai who is unfit for a leader’s role. He failed to inspire the functionaries and cadre and earn their trust. He operates in an indiscreet manner with zero transparency. Almost all senior leaders in the party have distanced themselves from him after seeing his style of functioning that has led the party into a destructive path.

After a long thought, I decided to put an end to the frustration and quit the party. On seeing this, several leaders and cadre, who were in similar situations, exited the party. They have taken such decisions on their own and I never influenced anyone to do so.

Have you taken the issues pertaining to state leadership to the national leadership?

I have raised the issue with the topmost leaders in the national leadership with evidence about the style of functioning of Annamalai on multiple occasions. I have also given them remedies and suggestions to undo the damages caused by him. Since there was no sign of a retrospective approach, I decided to end the frustration of staying back and remaining silent to anti-party activities. So, I called it a day.

What is your take on the open spat between the leaders of the AIADMK and BJP following your exit?

Quitting and joining a political party depends on each individual, their political ideology and orientation. Annamalai’s remarks over the development exposed his inabilities and immaturity in keeping his flock together. The party will lose more under his leadership.

AIADMK senior leaders reiterate that BJP is pulling them down electorally as they are losing minority votes. Former minister KA Sengottaiyan recently remarked that they lost 42,000 votes of minorities in the Erode East bypoll due to its ties with the BJP. What is your take on this?

Yes, ties with the BJP is a liability for its allies in Tamil Nadu. The minority consolidation against the BJP is very strong in the state. But, the party high command and state BJP leader Annamalai failed to build trust among the minorities in the last 18 months.

Moreover, unnecessary involvement of Annamalai in sensitive issues like Lavanya’s death caused even more damage. It is not the duty of the party leader to share videos on social media without checking the facts. If there is solid evidence, explore the legal provision to get justice for the victim. The person (Muthuvel of VHP) behind the circulation of the student’s video is behind the bar now. Annamalai also mishandled the Coimbatore bomb blast case and created unnecessary fear among minorities. Moreover, you cannot get away from sharing factually incorrect information or false videos in Tamil Nadu.

You have charged that Annamalai stopped you from exposing the corruption of certain Ministers in the ruling party? Do you have any proof to substantiate your charges?

At this juncture, I don’t want to delve into the issue as there are cases in connection with the issue in the court. But, it’s true that Annamalai called me over phone twice and asked me not to take the corruption charges against certain Ministers of the ruling party. Though I explained to him that I have evidence to prove the corruption charges and ready to take the issue legally as a responsible politician, he asked me to back down. I refused to do so.

What is your role in AIADMK? Have you been promised any specific role or responsibility?

I have seen the AIADMK and its policies since my young age. I am in tune with the party’s ideology and core values such as the language policy. And, I am not going to differ from the party’s policy and I am ready to change my approach that suits the party. I am open to any role or responsibility given to me. The party leadership (Edappadi K Palaniswami) will surely have a plan or role for me.